The Mason- Dixon line has always been considered the dividing line between two Americas. Above the Mason-Dixon Line are the secular humanist egalitarians and below the Line is what is referred to as the Bible belt, the old slave-owning part of the country. It is in the Bible belt that the battle lines against Darwinian Evolution Theory and practice has been drawn by Creationism (now in new clothing – Intelligent Design).

The problem with intelligent design theory is not the theory. The problem is that Intelligent Design is the spear point for an agenda. Ultimately, Fundamentalist Christians want America to be a Christian theocracy. The first step in this larger goal is to do one of two things. Success with either would be a first victory in their step by step plan.

These twin objectives are to throw Darwinian evolutionary theory out of school curriculums in America and/or get Christian symbols such as Bibles, Ten Commandment representations or some such symbol into public places. Doing either of these things on a national scale would be their first victory.

The problem for the Christian Right is The Declaration of Independence, The United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

As every school person should know America was founded by Deists. The truth is that most of the founding fathers were Masons. The religious community in revolutionary America of the time was composed of Christian sects fleeing religious persecution in England. But the Masons were the predominant guiding force behind the American Revolution and probably the French Revolution. The Masons were strongly influenced by the Knights Templars who were almost wiped out by a French King in 1307 AD. He coveted their property and wealth, and, by the way, he didn’t want to repay the money he owed them.

The Templars and Masons were always free thinking rationalists at heart, but this traumatic incident must have put a seething desire for revenge against despots deep into the soul of every member of the inner circle from 1307 onward. From the time the remnants of their order made contact with their brethren in Scotland and became a powerful underground secret society in Great Britain, they plotted against the French Monarchy, and this seemingly evolved into a need to topple all monarchs and despots anywhere and everywhere. They eventually got their revenge against the British and French Crowns. I believe the world today owes its predominance of Representative government to these individuals, who, by the way, are still here.

The point of all the above is this: the founders were not atheists. They believed in a divine power.

The problem in America today is that the American judiciary has decided to throw the baby out with the bath water.

Every decision that strips public places of predominantly Christian religious symbols — at great cost to the taxpayer, I might add — takes us farther and farther away from our humanity, our soul. The secular humanists rightfully fear theocracy. They would argue that churches, synagogues, mosques and religious schools exist to teach their particular brands of religion, but that we must keep our public places neutral.

They do have a point. I agree they have reason to fear a theocracy. It is not well known, but, the Early Roman Empire was not a theocracy. It never demanded that its religious beliefs be adopted by any of their conquered peoples. What it demanded is the payment of taxes and/or a regular supply of young men for soldiers in the Roman Army. The persecution of Christians was not an attack on the religion of Christianity. I believe Nero was the first to attack Christians, but, he attacked them to divert attention from developing rumors that he was the arsonist who set Rome on fire in order to build a monument to himself. The Roman government didn’t become a theocracy until the Emperor Constantine made Christianity the state religion.

Then came the Dark Ages, not because there was a Holy Roman Empire, which Voltaire said was neither Holy, Roman or an Empire, but it contributed to the prolongation of the Dark Ages by preventing free thought and rational science from developing. One was put to death if one did not agree that the world was flat and that the Earth was the center of the Solar system.

Theocracies are deadly forms of government to be sure, but, so is removing the spirit, soul or belief in a higher power from our institutions. Do that and you create a dead institution. Remove the soul from anything and it is dead. Consider how dead the American judicial institution has become:

A recent Commission on Judicial performance in California reprimanded the Classist/Racist Orange County Judiciary for failure of compassion. An unprecedented finding, yet find so they did. This is a perfect example of a dead institution. Without a soul there can be no compassion, no humanity. The soulless nature of the American judiciary reaches all the way to the United States Supreme Court. It recently ruled that cities can use eminent domain to steal the property of individual Americans and give it to developers to build multi-billion dollar shopping malls that will enrich a small group of “fat cats” at the expense of the Fourteenth Amendment property rights guaranteed under the United States Constitution’s Bill or Rights. The Supreme Court has decided cities or any governmental entity trumps the Bill of Rights.

The spirit of eminent domain was to expedite the construction of roads, dams, bridges and other elements of infrastructure for the greater good of local communities and the nation as a whole. Now, it can be used by money-grubbing corporations to bludgeon common people into submission.

Take the soul out and human decency goes with it.

The state of the American judiciary right now from the Supreme Court on down can be characterized as soulless, compassionless, even murderous – they condemned an ordinary citizen who committed no capital offense, Terry Schiavo, to death when there was a mother and father willing to take responsibility for her. The American judiciary is a company of individuals bought and paid for by corporate interests whose judgments go to the highest bidder. The Constitution of the founding fathers be damned. It does not exist any more. I chalk this up to the fact that these are Godless men and women and directly related to their rejection of God (read moral right and wrong). The golden rule applies — he who has the gold rules!

There is a grave danger that I fully acknowledge in a lean toward theocracy: if ONE religion sweeps all the others away and becomes THE state religion, this will spell death to competent science and rational thought.

Another example of how insane the religious right can be was demonstrated by the last United States Attorney General, John Ashcroft, who was offended (and apparently sexually aroused) by a classical nude sculpture, a bonified work of art. He took it upon himself to cover the statue (fortunately he didn’t have the power to have it destroyed by sledgehammer or blown up). No one protested! It is sad that no group came forward to picket in protest of the absurd whim of a single, aberrated individual. This is the terrible price we would pay if America would become a Christian fundamentalist theocracy.

In Afghanistan, when the Taliban dynamited ancient Buddhist sculptures carved into a mountainside, the world stood by in stunned horror, but, the Taliban was the government! It could do anything it wished. And they did.

There is a Middle Way.

In the world of fencing, every great teacher of swordsmanship will first teach the art of holding the grip of the foil. Grasp the grip too tightly and the foil is easily ripped from your hand with almost any strong stroke that forces the wrist to flex. Grasp the grip too lightly and again any strong strike against the foil will cause you to drop your weapon. The fencing student must learn the art of balancing the grip in just the right manner that allows a fine sensitive hand and wrist to flex with fluid motion. The foil does leave the hand for infinitesimal fractions of seconds but the art of never losing your foil is re-grasping the grip instantly.

The best way to understand this concept lies in the galloping horse controversy which was eventually settled by photography. Before the advent of photography, horsemen couldn’t decide whether all four of a galloping horse’s hooves left the ground. Photography proved that indeed all four hooves left the ground. For an infinitesimal fraction of a second, a 1000 pound horse is flying!

The point of all of the above is the mind is your rapier, your foil. You use it to understand truth. Glom onto a concept too tightly with your mind and you will lose insight. Hold a concept too lightly with your mind and, like quicksilver, insight will slither away from you. Balance a concept properly and you will experience enlightenment.

Neither the hubris of the scientist for those they deem ignorant, nor the unquestioning belief of the religious fundamentalist can get the cause of truth anywhere.

What I suggest is a Middle Way.

Let us post prominently in our public places a symbol like this:

We want always to be reminded as Americans that the Declaration of Independence affirms our unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

We want to acknowledge that there is almost certainly a God with a big “G”, or at minimum a Divine principle, without giving absolute power (which corrupts absolutely by the way) to any one system of belief. Let the individual decide for themselves what they wish to believe or not believe.

We want to validate the rational, logical and clear thinking that scientific methodology affords us.

The truth will set us free. The burning question is… what is the truth?